Epidemic
by KlainZ
Summary: When Freddie notices a rather interesting epidemic going around he decides to confront the person responsible for it. Based on iSaved your life.


This is based on iSave your life. Which I can't wait to see btw. I hope you guys like, be sure to leave me a review if you do! :D Also sorry if it looks all weird. For some reason I can't make big spaces in between flashbacks and stuff. If anyone knows how drop me a line.

"_Thinking_"

"**Emphasis**"

---

-----

---

It was a terrible ordeal. His leg was all done up in a cast as was his arm. Even his head had a bandage on it. Cuts and scrapes where speckled every which way on his body.

And DAMN did his body ache.

But he would have done it again, in a heartbeat. The idea of Carly being crushed by that taco truck was horrible enough to have him thank every higher power he could think of that he was there to push her out of the way.

He was a hero to a lot of the school. Even Sam's cruel and unusual ways toned down a bit. A very tiny bit.

But Lord did he hobble. The stupid crutches were a pain to use. He was often jeered at by Sam who 'lovingly' compared him to an old lady whose walker had been stolen so she had to use crutches.

How did she even come up with that stuff?

Carly catered to him hand and foot, although all he really wanted was to learn how to walk somewhat naturally with the stupid crutches.

He was pretty sure that Carly's actions were motivated by guilt. However, that didn't stop him from enjoying it.

Sadly the high from being a hero was ebbing away. The pain helped with that. So did the punks that thought it was funny to mess with him and his crutches.

There was one good thing being friends with Sam. Her abuse taught him many, many ways to cushion his falls. Yeah some of the punk kids in school thought it was funny to trip Mr. Hero.

Funny things started to happen though he noticed. As he looked around the halls a lot of the punk kids that tripped him or belittled him were also hobbling around.

Broken legs were an epidemic it seemed.

---

**~{Flashback}~**

---

The first time he was 'victimized' he had attended a party for a friend's birthday party at a roller rink. Nice luck right? It had been planned weeks in advance. He even bought a gift way before it was announced. He was always like that.

He had sat at a table watching Carly and Sam roll around the rink. He had to practically shove Carly to go have some fun though Sam helped also. Soon he had felt the need to use the rest room. Fumbling to get up from the high top chair without hurting himself caused some giggling around him. He rolled his eyes choosing to ignore it.

He shouldn't have.

The giggler was an older boy who just happened to jut out his chair at the right time and angle to cause his crutch to catch on it.

'_Wow… they really keep the floor clean here_.'

That was the last thought he had before his face collided with the floor. He heard Carly's shocked scream. He groaned as he felt Sam and Carly haul him up. They had difficulty doing that with the roller skates they had on. He remembered smirking at Sam's; she had been stuck with the old fashioned pink wheeled ones. Sam held him up while Carly retrieved his crutches. When they were given back and he managed to steady himself, he looked towards Carly when he heard her shocked gasp. Her wide eyes fixed on his face.

"Something on my face?" He asked.

"Dude, your nose is bleeding." Sam deadpanned.

He lifted his hand to his nose and recoiled. It hurt just to touch. Looking down at his hand he saw blood. Great. Carly was so worried she ended up making him leave. Carly asked Sam to come but Sam had refused telling Carly she wasn't about to leave without trying the ham pizza they had here.

He had only glanced back once, but saw her turning back to the guy who had tripped him.

'_Probably to tell him good one_.' He thought.

At that time though, he didn't pay attention to the angry shouts that lead to a sharp girly-man yelp.

---

**~{End Flashback}~**

---

The guy was a senior it seemed. He couldn't help but chuckle quietly as he watched the guy who tripped him bump up against his own locker trying to deal with his crutches.

It was odd for that guy to get a broken leg right after that incident. When he had first found out about, it he thought it was just karma paying that jerk back.

The second time he was bullied however…

---

**~~{And another flashback}~~**

---

Carly insisted upon taking him to the pier in the evening. It was a nice gesture and everything, but he had been nervous. It was nice though and he did enjoy himself. Carly was always right beside him and Sam was forced to stay on his other side in case he should trip. Spencer followed close behind the three 'oohing' and 'ahhhing' every little thing he saw.

Yeah most of the day went great until Spencer saw a stand where you could win a goldfish. With a shout of glee Spencer ran off causing Carly to become agitated.

"NO! Spencer, get back here! I won't let you kill another innocent goldfish!!" She shouted. "One second Freddie, I'll be right back."

With that she ran off. However, the crowd seemed like an ocean to Carly. With one desperate look back at Sam, Sam left his side.

"Stay frosty nub." Sam shouted back at him.

He rolled his eyes as he watched Sam practically mow down any foolish person who stood in her way. They weren't gone all that long, but they were gone long enough to leave him helpless.

"Hey, aren't you that iCarly geek?"

He turned his eyes to a blond haired girl wearing a white dress and black and white stockings. Her arms were crossed haughtily with a smirk playing on her face. She had two friends behind her looking somewhat unsure of themselves. He saw her looking down at his feet… too bad he didn't know why she was at the time.

"It's Freddie and yes I do the tech work for iCarly." He was smooth about it he thought.

The girl's smirk grew as she came closer to him and leaned her elbow on the bit of the exposed left crutch. His mother had made sure that the tops of the crutch were long to avoid 'slippage' or something. He didn't know what she was doing at that time, but she as she was belittling him on behalf of Nevelositiy she was slowly using her weight to push the soft rubber at the end of the crutch into a hole just the right size to cause him trouble.

"-and he has a way of wording things. A way that your trashy iCarly couldn't even manage to copy if they tri-"

"Listen." He almost yelled. "That's nice. I'm glad Nevel has someone to follow his website. It's great. Really, but iCarly is a great web show and I'm proud to be part of it. If you have a problem with it or me please just leave me alone. Alright?"

The girl seemed surprised by his outburst as did her friends. The surprise didn't last long however as a devious grin worked its way on her face.

"Alright. Before I go however…"

With that she placed her hand on his chest and pushed him. Normally he could have caught himself, but when he tried to move his crutches his left one was stuck making him fall to that side with a thud. She laughed loudly and left him there.

He sat up, but not without a lot of grunting in pain and people shooting him odd looks. The crutch was still stuck in the pier standing straight up as if mocking him. He noticed her further down the pier slyly watching her handywork with a grin.

When Carly, Sam and Spencer got back, they saw him still sitting and struggling with the crutch. It didn't seem to want to come out and he only had one free hand. Carly and Sam once again helped him off the floor while Spencer tugged the crutch free from the hole.

"That" Spencer said moving the crutch away from the hole. "Is SO not safe. Duuuude you could SUE." He said with a laugh.

Carly glared and took the crutch away from Spencer and handed back to Freddie smiling sadly.

"I'm really sorry. What happened?"

He frowned.

"It was a Nevel fan."

The other three stared at him with disbelief. He nodded towards the girl who was laughing with her friends. Carly looked surprised.

"Isn't that Katie Halls? **She's** a **Nevel** fan?"

"Guess so." He said with a shrug. "She came up and got up in my face about iCarly and everything. I guess she made my crutch stuck and when she was done ranting about Nevel, she just pushed me over."

"Nice." Spencer said.

Once again Carly glared at Spencer and he offered an apologetic smile. With a sigh, Carly turned back towards Freddie.

"Well I'm sorry that happened… wanna head on home?"

He nodded.

"I'll come over later" Sam said. "Mama has some things that need doing."

He, Carly and Spencer left. He didn't even think about the familiar shouts followed by a splash that happened in the background as he hobbled away with Spencer and Carly.

---

**~{End Flashback}~**

---

It had been a Friday when that happened. The way he had found out about it was reading the Sunday news paper. It read something like this:

'Girl thrown off pier by maniac. Maniac then steals large sausage and then beats perusing officer with it. The maniac and sausage's location are still unknown.'

He should have known then why people kept getting their legs broken. He was only picked on twice more. One broke his leg due to being thrown out a ground floor window into a bed of roses with nice pointy thorns, and the other ended up being beat with her own yarn balls that were supposedly made into makeshift flails. How yarn broke a leg he'll never know. No one **dared** to bother him since.

He realized he had been thinking this through the whole day as he hobbled through Carly's door. Carly met him half way and gave him an affectionate hug.

"How are you?" She asked concerned.

"Carly." He laughed. "You just saw me about ten minutes ago."

"Oooh I know. I just worry about you all… broken up and stuff." She stated sadly.

He laughed and Carly helped him to the couch. He glanced at Sam who had made her home on the side closest to the kitchen. She glanced up at him, stuck out her tongue at him and then went back to eating at the plate of ham in her lap.

"Actually I was just headed downstairs. Spencer just got some big thing from the junkyard for a sculpture for a client. I'll be right back."

With that Carly was out the door leaving him and Sam by themselves. For a minute or two they sat in silence as a rerun of Girly Cow flickered across the TV screen. Even though it was quiet, his mind was buzzing with how to approach Sam about the 'epidemic' of broken legs.

"What **is** it Fredlia?" Sam asked impatiently.

He jumped startled.

"W-what?"

"You've been sneaking looks at me. Got something to say freak face?" Sam growled.

He looked at her. Fear ebbing into him. He frowned and fought it back.

"Wh-why did you do that?"

Sam glowered at him. Her gaze did not leave his as she sat the plate, long since empty, on the table in front of her.

"Do what Mc'moron?" Her tone was clearly annoyed.

He attempted to straighten himself out, but stopped as a surge of pain shot through him.

"You **know** what Puckett. This 'epidemic' of cracked femurs."

Sam snorted in response.

"A femur, two tibias and fibula you nub. Get your facts straight."

He looked at her in shock.

"Are you serious?! How do you **do** that?!"

As Sam opened her mouth to speak, he quickly cut her off.

"No no. Never mind that. What I want to know was why did you do it? I mean. You broke those peoples legs right?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

"I won't tell anyone Sam. I **know** you did this. I **know** you did. I just want to hear it from you."

For what seemed like forever Sam just stared at him. The corner of her mouth twitched into a frown.

"Ok." She relented. "I may or may not have caused harm to certain people who may or may not have crossed paths with you."

He groaned causing a smirk to play on Sam's lips.

"Saaaaaammmmm." He whined. His unbroken hand covering his face.

"Fine Fredtard. Yes. I am the person who broke those idiot's legs." With that she pulled her own legs up on the couch and crossed them underneath herself.

He studied her as she played with a lose string coming from her jean's seam.

"So. How'd it happen?" He asked as he watched her nimble fingers fiddle with the string.

"Eh?"

"You know. That jerk who tripped me with the chair." At this she looked up at him. "How did you break his leg?"

Sam laughed lightly.

"I kicked him in the shin. It turns out me kicking someone while wearing gross white and pink skates can make me break a tibia." She said as she pulled at her purple hoodie's zipper her brow furrowed in thought. "Well maybe it wasn't the skates. I **can** kick pretty hard y'know."

He chuckled.

"Katie. How did that happen?"

"I threw her off a pier. Well more like flipped her off a pier. I think she broke it as I threw her over the railing. Her leg hit it or something. Or maybe she hit it on a rock in the water. I dunno I was distracted." Sam said absent mindedly. "Anyways that was the other tibia."

It was amazing how she could figure out what bones broke in a person's body but got bad grades in biology.

"I hope the sausage was worth it."

Sam looked at him shocked.

"Freddie. Sausage is **always** worth it. That cop was asking for it."

He could tell she was serious. After all she said 'Freddie' instead of adding some insult to his name.

"How did you throw that jock out the window?"

That question sent her into a fit of giggles.

"After he did what he did to you and after Carly swept you away, I went up to him. He had seen me rough you up I guess and figured I was coming up to flirt with him I guess."

Hearing that made his face contort into a disgusted look.

"Yeah I think that was my inner feelings. I let him think I was into him so I could get close. When I did, I yanked that jank jersey over his head, not completely off of him mind you, just enough to cause confusion. Anyways, I saw the window open and pushed him out."

He looked puzzled.

"How'd he break his leg? It was on the ground floor."

"Well" she began. "He was a heavy guy and he fell on one of the rocks surrounding the rose bushes. It seems that they were prize winners or whatever. That was the Femur."

Before he could ask about the last one, she cut him off.

"The last chick I just beat with the yarn. J'mam maw tried to teach me how to knit once, but I got bored and figured out how to make yarn flails." Sam said with a shrug.

"Yeah, but… that girl I guess is the owner of the fibula. Isn't that the tiny bone in the calf?"

Sam nodded.

"Isn't it kind of hard to break a bone with **yarn**?"

"When I was done, I threw them at her. They wrapped around her legs and made her fall off her porch. BAM, broken fibula. So no, it's not."

He stared at her before breaking out into laughter. Sam only watched him with a half smile.

"I-I gotta know one thing though." He said calming down from his laughing fit. "Why? Why did you do all that?"

Sam rolled her eyes.

"What is this? Twenty questions?"

She seemed irritated, but he had to know.

"Just answer this last one and I'll leave you alone about it."

She glared at him and he stared back. Just as he was about to falter, Sam allowed a sigh to escape her.

"You saved her." She mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Carly." Sam said. "You saved Carly."

Her answer was simple enough.

"I don't understand…"

A groan was her response. He scooted closer to her, wincing as his leg yelled at him for moving it.

"Come on Sam. I'm not gonna use anything you say against you or anything…"

"You'd be broken in so many ways if you even tried to Benson." She said his name with a harsh inflection. "What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room. If it does, I will break you into tiny pieces that would put Humpty Dumpty to shame. Got it?"

He swallowed a lump that had somehow just appeared in his throat and nodded.

"Carly means a lot to me. You know that." She stated and he nodded. "She is like the only person who gives a rat's ass about me."

He opened his mouth to speak, to tell her that, that wasn't true.

"Shut it Fredfreak."

Those words made his mouth shut so fast it hurt his mouth when his teeth clinked together.

"Anways, if you hadn't saved her… I would really have no one."

The way she said it was firm, but he could tell that she was deeply affected by this whole thing.

"That truck… if it had hit her like it was going to… she wouldn't be in a few casts like you." She gestured at him. "She'd be in a casket. You know it. I know it. She knows it."

He nodded. He knew to some extent what could have happened. It had always been in the back of his mind. Hearing Sam say it though, affected him deeply. Carly could have died. He could have died.

"So… when I see people messing with you, it's like they are picking on her also. Like they are making fun of something that could have killed you guys. It pisses me off. When that ass hat tripped you and made you all bloody… I guess it was like I was just looking at the guy who was driving that taco truck."

A smile threatened to make its way on his face. It had seemed that she only cared that Carly was safe, but she had let it slip that she was concerned about them both. Sam fidgeted then jumped up and glanced down at him.

"Yeah so, the more you know I guess. I'm gonna see what's taking Carls so long." She started to leave but stopped and looked back at him. "Oh and once more for effect. If you ever repeat thi-"

"You'll break me into tiny pieces. Got it." He said with a grin.

Sam nodded and walked towards to the door. His chest tightened. He had really pushed his luck today, but he couldn't help it.

"Sam." He called and she stopped half way out Carly's door and turned towards him, annoyance clearly on her face. "People care about you. Spencer does and I'm sure your mom and your '**sister**' does… and… so do I."

She blinked at him for a moment seemly shocked by what he had said. Slowly but surely her familiar grin worked its way on her face.

"Sheesh one little chat and you get all gushy on me Benson." She said with a laugh. He rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile. "Yeah… but hey. I guess I'm glad you're all ok and… stuff."

With that she shut the door and left him in the room all by himself. Hey so Sam was right. It could have been a lot worse. After all, broken bones heal, flesh mends and bad memories fade. It was natural. The pain would go away soon. It was practically seventy percent better already.

However, for that last part. When she was telling him why she did all she did, he swore that he was having breathing and heart problems. After all, breath doesn't just randomly hitch and your heart just doesn't randomly thud in your chest… a blush formed on his face as he looked over at the door.

That truck must have hit him harder then he thought.


End file.
